Deep Litter....

[Carrie]

How many out there use "deep litter" method?  How deep is deep?  Do we have much of a problem in our climate with coccidiosis?  Thanks for any info :)

Carrie

[Catherine, The Herb Lady]

Hi Chris & Carrie,

 

My girls loved to take dust baths in the litter also - I finally gave them a little sand box - very shallow, just a frame really to try and contain it, thinking to give them something a little clearner, but they used whatever area they could carve out a 'basin' in.  They reminded me of a dog rolling around in the grass - very funny!

[Jeanette]

My big dog (lab pit) dug a big hole in the yard and she likes to lay in it (to keep cool,I guess, and because that's what pups do). The girls love to go to the hole (about 3' diameter and 8" deep) and roll. It is really funny to see 2 or 3 of them in there at once. They just have their little heads popping up. (They are out only when supervised and the dogs secured inside.) I have about 6" of little in the coop and the girls sleep in the nesting boxes like shoes.

[Carrie]

Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and great ideas! Carrie

[Carrie]

Wow Becky! Your setup looks great! It's a lot like mine but I have an extra run on the other side of the coop instead of another structure. Thanks so much for the input, I'll give it a try :)

[Becky]

I use the deep litter method too.  It's not yucky at all.  Most people who see it are surprised at how clean it looks/smells and I'm amazed at how little work it is.  The key is to keep it as dry as possible, which is pretty easy here. 

I just turn it with a rake about once a week and add more when it breaks down some.  I took most of it out in July (right before the rains) and started over but I haven't cleaned it out since then.

If it rains a lot and it gets wet, I turn it more often until it dries.

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[Becky]

Oh yeah,

I throw some DE in there when I add more pine shavings. On the floor, on perches and in the nest boxes.

Then when they dust bathe they get dusted with DE too.

 

(DE is Diatomaceous Earth - food grade, not pool grade)

[Carrie]

I just realized I left out a detail in my question...the area I'm concerned about is the run.  I do have about 4 inches in the coop, but am wondering about the run as there seems to be much more poop in it.  Sorry for any confusion(seems to be mostly mine :)!

Carrie

 

[Catherine, The Herb Lady]

Hi Carrie,

 

More poo in the run makes sense, because they would spend more time there.  If you need to keep the litter shallow you may have to take it all up more regularly because of the buildup of the poo.  Together with any heavy rains, a shallow litter will become more of a problem quickly.  IF you started out with bare ground and laid a light layer of straw down, then added some every couple of days depending on how much poo is added by the crew, you would want to replace the whole thing when it reached a depth you found too deep - you could probably replace it in sections.  Chris or others may have more tips with dealing with a narrow run area.

[Carrie]

Thank you Catherine!  I do have bare ground with about 4 inches of fresh sand, after I had just cleaned it out last weekend, and my runs are covered.  The bottom has a 2x6 redwood edge with 18" of buried cinderblock (I didn't trust the coyotes or the loose dogs!).  Like I said earlier, I have a 5x13 section and a 10x10 section and the area under the coop(big pain to clean!!! wish I had rethought that one!).  Since I am starting with a clean slate after the recent cleaning, I am wanting the bet set up for health,smell and fly relief:)

[Catherine, The Herb Lady]

Hi Carrie, I can imagine the under coop area is the most difficult.  Becky's tips are very good.